Windy, no, never have. But to get a good sample base a fellow or fellowette would have to process a lot of wood to get a good mean figure for any spec'd size spar between the wood types. Still, it'd make for good reading, for sure.

- I still prefer archery to firearms for recreational shooting, we don't get to many AD's with a bow and it's arrows!

Geez, I hope you guys all put your firearms in some kind of time lock safe when you switch from shooting to drinking. Perhaps even do the same for your model building projects if you want them to look good and to keep all those fingers. And if you're concerned about security, maybe you should get a well trained dog with a good nose. Then there's no mistaken identity in the dark. Perhaps throw in a recording: "No, Joe, put the axe down. Please! You remember what happened last time."

Safety is first priority for me in both work and play. I'm a Viet Nam era vet and have handled weapons of all types for over 45 years now. I've been building balsa planes of all types for almost as long. In my younger days, I have to admit that I had a wild streak, but I was either real lucky or milder than I thought since I've never had any kind of accident while drinking. Now days a 6 pack of Guiness will last me a couple of months. A fifth of Scotch lasts me about a year if I don't share.

As to keeping all my digits in one place... well that's another matter since I lost part of a finger when I was only 7 years old. Other than having to play guitar right handed instead of my usual southpaw way of doing everything else. I've had my slips with the blades but have never needed stitches (so far)

And as a final parting thought.... Gun control is being able to hit your target!!!

I'm a young guy and wouldn't dream of drinking/shooting - neither would anyone I know. Kinda irritating to have somone lord safety precautions at you over the internet, by the way, lincoln; I live in a country with very stringent laws and you actually need a legitimate and provable reason (ie vertebrate pest control & recreational hunting for landowners as per myself) before the registry will allow you a license. Every now and then they'll come around and inspect your gun safe, too, and if its not up to standard or your firearms are stored improperly (eg bolt in or loaded) then you will be issued with an infringement, your license suspended and your firearms confiscated.

On home intruders; I do not live in a place where it is a particular worry. Personally I think a golfclub/baseball bat/tyre iron/glass bottle would be a better alternative than a firearm in any case as you stand a better chance of not attacking someone by accident. You are also less likely to kill somone, and in my case you would actually be able to get to the weapon quicker than a properly stored firearm as mine are protected by a steel safe bolted to the ground and opened via a digital code-input keypad with no manual override.

On drinking; I'm young and drink occasionally with friends when we feel like it. We don't cause trouble, are responsible while doing so and it is noones business but our own.

...And after I get through this adventure in home buying, I plan on tying one on like I did in my younger days. I'll have earned it, I'm deserving and heaven help anyone that comes between me and my bottle of GERITOL!!!! If you're not old enough to remember Geritol then you're still a puppy.

Zsssufferin zzzsssucucutash You guys crack me up!
As you guys are talkin' about my 2nd favoritehobby, I just gotta say I haven't shot since lead was a screechin' 52 cents a lb, or 22's @ 2.88 per 100 CCI's- best bang I thought!
I do have to say I've been sober 30 plus years now, and enjoy your barley pop humors! and then there;s that long shot of Jeff's (favorite?) target. heckn's I remember back when i was in the Civil War, I could never get past 7 shots per minute- that derned Sgt. Major was all over me 'bout being slow- and short- they kept missin' me! Yeah! I'm speakin' truth here! google my name- I'm 155 years old now! just had a birfday I'm pure blooded redneck, you'll never catch me lyin' through my tooth!
Yep- I have a billyhellun's to pay now! Wife in great rage, cuz I cancelled the D card, she can't own that all the transactions are with a pin #, 'ceptenfers the 3X 49.95 of electric cigarette refills- which she didn't read the fine print about
I don't wanna be that receptionist!
I was wonderin' the same thing Wayne, and just to keep things in perspective, my 3 boxes of Chrysallis babies are under my feet, safe from wife! gonna have fun next year! ohh yeahh- I said that 3 years ago at least we can keep the dark side @ bay with that Darth fellow! I have his Hawks!

Well Johnny me boyo.... I can still remember giving Richard the Lionheart directions to the crusades! Silly twit was going in the wrong bloody direction!

Steve... would you be thinking of my two favorite subjects? Havoc and Chaos? I thought every one needs a little of both in their life!

This makes my 1,400th post to the forum. I hope during this time I've been able to entertain and maybe help some of the others here in some small way. I know that I've learned a lot from the rest of you in the past 5 years and hope to learn even more ways to alter balsa. All of you have at one time or another given me ideas, some good, some bad but all of them worth my time here.

Sean, I don't think he was being holier-than-thou, just concerned for everyone's safety if/when alcohol is involved, as well as firearms, and especially any possible combinations of the two.

I presume you saw the news recently about the guy who shot his own 15 year old son, thinking he was a prowler? I don't believe there was alcohol involved, his son was apparently playing a prank, and the guy honestly thought he was protecting his family, but his son is still just as dead, and he is still just as distraught.

I have a gun myself, I've taken 32 raccoons out of our barn with it (carriers of rabies, parvo, distemper, and you have no idea what they can do to model airplanes!), all to protect our family and pets, but like you, I take firearm safety very seriously.

As for this discussion, probably best for all of us if we all just turn it down a notch or two.

His concern is quite misplaced. To assume with absolutely no foundation that I or any of the regulars on here, would endanger others or even ourselves by careless actions is to also assume that he believes he has even a basic familiarity with any of us and finds us wreckless, immature and..........rednecks in the worst sense of the word. I make a lot of jokes on here, some pertaining to drinking. These are said in jest usually. I've never once implied or even joked that I like to get liquored up and do anything dangerous such as handle one of my firearms, operate machinery up to and including driving on highways or put any other living thing in danger's path.

I don't even use my firearms for hunting. I have nothing against hunters but I just don't kill living things except for insects. Yeah, I can see dropping disease carrying animals but I just don't have the need here. Though I live in an area highly populated by everything from alligators to snakes, to creatures I can't even identify I take pointing a gun at anything but a target with backstop seriously. How would you like it Don if after you mentioned shooting the raccoons I made a snide comment questioning whether you were sober, did you make sure you had a proper backstop to absorb any missed shots and so on?

I also conceal carry about 99.5% of the time. I've had three incidents where I almost had to reveal my weapon, one of those would have been totally justified but I didn't.

Yeah, I saw the story about the guy shooting his son. Very tragic and senseless. I can link a dozen similar stories. I can also give you a list (at least 10 people long) that I know personally who have been injured, maimed or killed by cars. If Lincoln wants to do something for public safety he should go to another thread and pontificate about texting while driving. Now that is something to be concerned about.

Since Jeff listed his drinking habits I'll post mine so there won't be any further misunderstanding.

Beer: I walk out the door NLT 8:00 AM every morning to go to work and rarely get back in AC before 7:00 PM. I'm soaked to the underwear in sweat by 8:30 AM. During the day I consume mass quantities of water. When I get home, after I've done any household projects and had dinner I often drink one ro two beers. Even my doctor suggests this is a good thing to help restore salts and so forth. This habit goes from around June 1 to end of September when the outside temperatures drop to reasonable levels.

Wine: Occasionally with dinner

Liquor: Occasionally on weekend evenings and usually in social settings. I buy a helluva lot more than Jeff does but we entertain a lot.

Hope the above clears the air for Lincoln and he no longer views myself or my friends as a bunch of backwoods hicks that like to chug a case and go popping rounds off at anything that moves.

As for toning it down: Possibly. I won't revisit the above subjects unless another sideways insult is thrown my way or towards the people I care about. It's just that when a bug runs across my kitchen floor I squash it, I don't sweep it out the door only to have it return.

Right now the only way to get a Cobra is to build one from scratch. The plans are freely available here on RCGroups and on the Outerzone website. It was originally designed as a free flight model but all those old free flight models were built to thermal. I think it would make a great ALES plane.